Sunday, October 2, 2016

A Spaceman and a Storyteller

Ever since July 20, 1969, when my parents woke me up to
witness the first walk on the moon; Neil Armstrong took that fateful step at
10:56 PM and I was an early to bed early to rise 8 year old, astronauts and
space flight have held a place of fascination for me. It’s not the kind of
fascination that had me dreaming of going to space like so many kids, but more
of a wonder and awe of these brave folks who hurtle their bodies into space
because like author Tom Wolfe described it, they have “the right stuff.”

In the intervening years I have been lucky enough to
interview some of the original NASA pioneers and astronauts and gain insight
into what drove them to pursue this amazing endeavor. I have read a shelf full
of biographies and I can say with certainty the Mike Massimino’s, Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to
Unlock the Secrets of the Universe is my favorite of the bunch.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson’s blurb on the book’s
jacket really nails things down; “Every generation of astronauts needs a
storyteller.” Massimino is that storyteller! He writes with an easy,
comfortable style, that gives the details of the engineering of space flight
that even us non-engineers can grasp.

Here is a guy who counts himself among a very small number
of folks who have done amazing things in space and he writes with an awe of a
child about viewing the Earth from 350 miles up, while dangling outside the
Hubble Space Telescope. I was moved by his descriptions and surprised by his expression
of faith and who God gave us an amazing place to live known as Earth. Put that
in your pipe and smoke Bill Nye!

The sadness is palpable when Massimino writes about STS
107, the space shuttle Columbia 28th mission, that disintegrated
upon re-entering Earth atmosphere. Massimino was part of the crew of STS 109 which
would have been the Columbia’s 28th mission, but technical issues
and scheduling bumped 109 ahead of 107 and by the luck of the draw he and his
crew mates returned safely home. His insights into what the loss of his fellow
Astronauts and friends will move you to tears.

In the end, it is often that raw emotion that Massimino
expresses throughout the book, the things he experienced and felt during his
time in space that really separate Spaceman
from the rest of the pack of Astronaut bios.